Theresa May shows Tory desperation with attack on migrant workers

Theresa May let the mask slip with a nasty racist attack on migrants today, Wednesday (Pic: Home Office/Flickr)

Theresa May responded to her crumbling lead in the polls by returning to what she knows best. This morning, Wednesday, she lashed out at immigrant workers.

May claimed, “There’s a very clear choice at this election, there’s a very clear difference between myself and Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. I want to ensure we control migration. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party want uncontrolled migration.”

She dusted off the old myths that “too high uncontrolled migration puts pressure on our public services” and it “lowers wages at the lower end of the income scale”.

May’s Ukip-style attack on migrants is a sign of her desperation. It should be firmly rejected.

Analysis: migrant workers are no burden

By far the most important factor for people choosing to migrate is the search for work.

Many migrants work in public services such as the NHS. Far from putting pressure on schools and hospitals, migrants’ labour keeps them going.

More broadly, most groups of migrants pay more in income taxes than they cost in public services.

Our services are under pressure because the Tories hold down their funding despite population growth. This isn’t migrants’ fault—and scapegoating migrants helps the Tories get away with it.

It can seem like common sense that migration drives down wages. It’s simple “supply and demand”, we are told. If there are more workers available it means they have to sell their labour more cheaply, goes the argument.

Yet studies seeking to prove this effect have repeatedly failed to find any clear pattern. Some even suggest that migration boosts wages.

The supply and demand argument assumes that the number of jobs available is constant. It is not. The economy expands and contracts. Bosses hire people and fire people.

One sector often singled out as having seen a big influx of “unskilled” migrants is construction. This came during an expansion for the sector—and repeated increases in pay.